Hiashi's test
by The Nixon
Summary: Shikamaru is called away from his perfect day off by none other than the head Hyuuga, what could he want, Shika/hina and implied Neji/ten long oneshot. Now with the underlines and italics removed


Hiashi's test

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and sadly never will

This is an idea i had that came out longer than expected. A lot longer. So here it is.

--

It was Shikamaru's favourite type of day in Konoha, an average day. It wasn't uncomfortably hot nor was it unbearably cold. The sky wasn't a clear empty blue or an ever reaching expanse of dark grey.

Instead it was pleasantly warm and several white clouds added an enjoyable variation to the sky and the tree he was in offered a perfect vantage point for cloud gazing.

Ino would be working at the flower shop for most of the day, Chouji was off on a mission and he had already checked on Kurenai so he would not have to interrupt his cloud gazing to visit her.

All in all it seemed that today, the first day off in what seemed like forever to Shikamaru was going to be a perfect cloud filled day. One where he could sit still and think about whatever he wanted or simply not think at all. Although right now he felt the need to nap more so then to cloud gaze. So he closed his eyes preparing to drift into the peaceful state of sleep.

Sadly such peace was not for Shikamaru today as a shadow fell across his face and a familiar although unexpected voice spoke up. "Get up Nara I know you're still awake. Your presence has been requested."

Shikamaru audible groaned as he opened his eyes and lifted himself from his previously comfortable position on the branch and turning to glare at the one who had ruined his chance of rest.

"It's my day off. What the hell does the troublesome woman want Neji?"

Neji smirked, not many things could amuse him but the Nara seemed to have a personality that people either hated or found rather amusing. Sadly no one was really neutral to it, most women found his attitude chauvinistic and would either complain or yell at him and in certain women's cases give him a good whack to the head whereas most males found his old fashioned beliefs and his aggravation towards all things troublesome to be quite amusing, along with the fact that no matter how annoyed people got or how much punishment he took his personality did not seem to know when to relent.

"It is not the Hokage who wishes to see you. So you can rest assured no real work is involved."

Shikamaru seemed mildly surprised at this info and lay back down and closed his eyes once more. "So if it's not something important it can wait awhile then."

Neji cleared his throat and Shikamaru opened one eye to look at him.

"Anything else you need?" He asked with a smirk. Neji gave him a cold glare, he could quickly feel himself moving out of the 'amused at Shikamaru' group and switching to the 'hate' group.

"Hiashi-sama himself has requested your presence at your earliest convenience."

Shikamaru merely sat there and closed the one eye he had been staring at Neji with.

"Well?" Neji asked his annoyance now rising to anger.

"Tomorrow, I have things to do today."

"Like what."

"Sleep." to hell with the hate group, Neji was going straight to the exclusive all blond 'beats the hell out of him' (currently three members) group, he'd even dye his hair if that's what it took.

Attempting to keep his cool Neji continued "it would be wise for you to come now, you would not want to offend the Hyuuga simply because you made them wait whilst you slept in the middle of the day."

Sighing Shikamaru joined his hands into his thinking position. _Brush off the Hyuuga, enjoy the clouds all day, worst case scenario Hyuuga's get offended and complain, then the my clan complains to me and then the Hokage once she finds out and if they complain then moms going to find out and if she finds out…_

Shikamaru decided to stop there he didn't want to think about it. He gave one final longing look at the clouds and sighed again. "Fine, troublesome." he muttered.

Neji nodded "I will be your escort so the guards know that you've been authorised entrance to the complex."

"Alright lead the way."

Neji then proceeded to run at his ninja pace across the field and then jump onto a building near it's edge he paused though not sensing the chakra of his fellow ninja behind him, he turned around smirking believing that the Nara could not keep up with his pace, the expression quickly died and was reborn as anger and a vein appeared on his forehead.

The Nara was just past the tree walking slowly foreword, hands in his pockets, back slouched and a smirk on his face. Oh how he wished he could kill the Nara there and then. Neji jumped over to Shikamaru once more glaring the most powerful glare he could muster.

Sadly it was completely useless.

"Nara, don't you think we should hurry. Hiashi-sama is waiting."

"So. If I'm going to have to lose time from my day off for this I might as well lose it at my own pace." Shikamaru said shrugging.

"Nara."

"Fine, whatever. Troublesome. You know you're even more impatient than some women. I don't know how Tenten puts up with you."

Neji froze in place his face becoming a deep shade of red and his eyebrow twitching although now from shock rather than anger.

"H-how do y-you know about me and Tenten." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, grinning only slightly, (a larger grin would be too troublesome) at how the normally stoic Hyuuga's reaction had revealed a few important details about Tenten and Neji to him.

"I only said Tenten because she's your team mate I left out lee and Gai because they seem to be able to able to put up with anyone in the 'springtime of youth.'"

"O-oh I see, well Tenten is a patient person." he started moving again although at a much quicker pace Shikamaru noted.

"So Nara have you had any missions recently." Shikamaru smirked. Neji's making a conversation and it's a completely different subject.

"Not really they've all been rather troublesome." Neji merely nodded finally returning to his normal stoic self which Shikamaru found much less amusing then the previous new Neji. Shikamaru felt it was his non-troublesome duty to bring that side of Neji back.

"So Neji." Neji looked at Shikamaru who was looking at him with the 'I know something' smirk plastered on his face.

"What?" Neji asked desperately trying to hide his sudden nervousness.

"How long have you been going out with Tenten?" Neji's face instantly turned bright red once more. Shikamaru wondered if it was a family trait because the blush seemed to perfectly mimic the colour he had seen Hinata turn when Naruto had not only ran into her but also landed on top of her when he had attempted to escape an angry Sakura.

Hinata had fainted and Naruto's hopes of escaping his out of control girlfriend had been abruptly ended.

"Shut up Nara." Shikamaru knew when to quit and he felt that now was that time so he simply chuckled slightly to himself at his discovery and carried on walking.

Neji walked beside him. "Do not utter a word of this to anyone Nara." he ordered.

Shikamaru removed his left had from its pocket and held it up. "You have my word." he stated simply although unknown to Neji Shikamaru's right hand which was still concealed within his pocket had two fingers crossed. Keeping secrets was too troublesome anyway.

For the rest of the journey the two walked in silence the only form of speech used was when Neji explained to the guards that Shikamaru was permitted to enter.

Neji led Shikamaru through the complex stopping at one door in particular.

"This is where your meeting with Hiashi-sama will take place, he is inside waiting for you. Good luck." The Hyuuga smirked finally having found an opportunity to unsettle the Nara and like the glare he had used earlier it was completely ineffective.

Aggravated and defeated Neji turned and began to leave. He could here the Nara knock the door behind him and shortly after the opening and closing of said door. He rounded a corner and was face to face with Hinata.

"Good evening Hinata-sama." he said in greeting.

"Hello nee-san." She replied, "Why is Shikamaru-san here." she asked nervously.

"I'm not too sure but most likely it's one of those tests since Hiashi recently found out you liked Shikamaru. Shikamaru's only just went into the room if you hurry you may be able to eavesdrop on everything this time."

"Ok" blushing Hinata moved past her cousin and toward the door Shikamaru had entered. This was not the first time her father had taken it upon himself to summon someone who either liked Hinata or who Hinata herself liked. It was often hard for Hinata to listen to yet she did so anyway out of curiosity and wanting to know if her feelings were returned.

So far they had not been and the few times someone who liked Hinata was there they had failed the test, Hinata felt sad for these people she knew what it was like to care for someone and not be able to be with them or even have you're feelings returned.

Both her team-mates had been tricked into this test in the past, both had unknowingly failed but Hiashi had determined that they saw Hinata as a sister of sorts whilst at the same time he had managed to hide the fact that they had been tested and that his daughter had a crush on them at those times.

Naruto had been brought in once. That one had hurt Hinata most not because he failed but because he had told her father that he had a girlfriend who he loved very much. In fact had he not had a girlfriend he would have been classed as a pass according to her father.

Hinata often wished her father would drop this test, so far it only led to Hinata finding out she was not liked by the one she had a crush on.

Like each test before Hinata found she was scared of finding out what was being said in the room and once again she had crouched by the door and put her ear against it. Her father knew she did it some times but he didn't mind saying something about it being important for her to hear these things herself.

Shikamaru looked about the room he had entered, apart from a games board and two mats either side, the room was bare which seemed quite strange since the room was fairly large. He would never believe a clan as large and strict as the Hyuuga would so blatantly waste this space.

Hiashi who had guided Shikamaru into the room had now walked to the centre taking a space on one of the mats. The Nara had only just walked in but already he did not seem to be faring well in his test.

True the boy actually wore the official chuunin uniform unlike most ninja these days but his expression and posture left much to be desired. He looked very bored with the situation, his back was slouched, his hands were in his pockets and to top things off he wore earrings, earrings. Did he not know how to present himself in front of respectable members of Konoha such as the head Hyuuga himself.

But looking at the boy's eyes Hiashi noted he seemed to quickly scan the room taking in every detail whilst still maintaining his perpetually bored appearance. This at least went well with Hiashi, most candidates looked confusedly around the room showing no ability to hide their emotions or actions, at least this one was able to somewhat conceal how he took notice of the area.

"Take a seat Nara, make yourself comfortable." Hiashi stated beckoning him toward the second mat.

Shikamaru did as told. "I understand you needed to see me about something Hyuuga-sama."

"Yes, I merely want to ask you a few questions, now whilst we're at it how about we play a game." he replied gesturing to the board in front of them.

Shikamaru recognised it immediately to be a Shougi board with all the pieces already arranged. So Hiashi had planned this part beforehand.

"The game is called Shougi, I will go through the rules with you briefly."

"I'm familiar with the game." Shikamaru stated a very small smirk appearing on his face as he looked at the board.

This was strange to Hiashi, no one ever seemed happy to see the board. Most of the people who say it feared it or were confused by the board having no idea what the game was or how to play, the few that could play didn't seem to want to play either or simply didn't show any emotion. But here it was clear this boy knew the game and seemed to enjoy its sight.

Maybe he'd finally get a good game out of these tests. "Seeing as you know the game you can make the first move."

This was the next part of Hiashi's test, he would remain quiet for several turns of the game before he started his questioning this would give him some idea how he reacted to distractions and whether or not he could maintain his current level in the game with them.

The Nara was good at this game Hiashi realised, so far he had kept almost all his pieces out of danger but also had still managed to capture some of Hiashi's, maybe he would start the questions sooner this time to try and throw the Nara off a little.

Having already decided the Nara failed the first part of the test for his appearance, next he would find out about the Nara's career and accomplishments.

"So Nara." he started "I understand you passed your chuunin exams on the first try. Correct." Shikamaru nodded still looking at the Shougi board and then making his move. Hiashi proceeded to make his move before continuing.

"I was a little surprised though, as I recall you gave up claiming you could only maintain jutsu for another ten seconds."

Now Shikamaru looked at Hiashi. "Yes I did."

"But in the match you only used about two or three kunai and no shuriken, surely you were better equipped then that and ten seconds would easily be enough to finish the job." Hiashi stated waiting to see the Nara's reaction which surprisingly was an amused smirk.

"You know you're the first person to ever bring any attention to that."

"So you understood that at the time as well?" Hiashi questioned.

"Yea." Shikamaru stated simply. Now Hiashi rarely became confused but this was one of those few times.

"Why would you choose to lose when you had so clearly won?"

"I suppose because back then I thought it would be too troublesome."

"I don't think I understand." Shikamaru chuckled lightly at this.

"I didn't like having responsibilities back then so I'd always brush things off as too troublesome and in the chuunin exam's I never really cared whether or not I became a chuunin so I decided there was no point in harming the sand woman just so I could fight again and like I said then I didn't have much chakra left so most likely I wouldn't be able to win another match. It was best to stop there."

Outside the door Hinata was mentally yelling to Shikamaru to stop saying such things, he was making himself sound like a terrible ninja who didn't care for responsibility and at this rate there would be no way her father would accept him even if it turned out Shikamaru did like her.

Hiashi nodded understanding the Nara's reasoning for quitting although he couldn't honestly say he condoned the idea of quitting to save himself the trouble but Shikamaru had said it in past tense so that implied he had changed since then and according to Shikamaru's files seemed to agree.

"I've looked at some of your mission details, you seem to have one of the best success rates as well as one of the lowest casualty numbers out of any chuunin or even Jounins for that matter."

Shikamaru nodded, "as leader the team is my responsibility, any injuries they take are a result of my lack of planning or experience so I put the team's safety as a whole to be a high priority along with the mission. I have to take everything seriously for them and I need to ensure everyone works together effectively to keep each other alive."

Hiashi nodded approvingly it seemed this one understood the importance of teamwork and despite how he seemed he also accepted his responsibilities fully.

"Why haven't you become a Jounin yet? You clearly have the necessary skills you even beat one of the Akatsuki alone according to the records."

Shikamaru scanned the board once more before making his move, Hiashi waited patiently for an answer.

"It always seemed too troublesome, if I became a Jounin I'd get more dangerous missions and I'd eventually lose comrades in battle, I didn't want that responsibility but I have considered becoming a Jounin soon. It's what Asuma would have wanted anyway.

Hiashi did not question further on that subject he had known the Jounin Asuma and his tragic end, it wouldn't be fair to bring potentially sad memories to the Nara with his questioning. So now he decided to drop the career questions and move to the final part, an analysis of his personality and goals and being someone who didn't like to waste time Hiashi went straight to the point.

"So if you do become a Jounin what will you do afterwards, what are your intentions for the future." Once more Shikamaru finished his move before answering.

"Originally I was planning to stay as a chuunin, be an average ninja have an average wife, two children a boy then a girl, I'd retire when my son became a successful ninja and my daughter got married, I'd grow old playing Shougi and watching clouds and I'd die before my wife." Hiashi hadn't expected the Nara to have a full life plan most candidates merely stated what they wanted done next like a certain job or promotion or otherwise some plan to become important or end up as the Hokage.

"When you say originally do you mean you no longer want that?" Hiashi questioned after placing his piece down on the board.

"That plan was never really likely anyway, I always thought average would be easy to get but it's actually surprisingly difficult to stay in that category. The average ninja part's already gone if I become a Jounin, I don't much care for the average woman now, as long as I find someone who I love and care for then it doesn't matter how they look or how strong they are. I won't exactly be able to control what gender any children end up as." he paused there before shifting a piece on the board causing a small 'click' as it was placed down again, then he continued.

"As for the last thing, I know what it's like to lose someone important to you and like hell am I going to allow myself to die before my wife just so they can go through the same trouble."

Hiashi found himself more impressed with the Nara, he'd expressed great maturity and understanding with that answer, from it he also showed that he was someone who would respect any woman he was with and also shown he was willing to protect whomever it was.

Hiashi could almost feel a small ghost of a genuine smile grace his face, it was rare for him to genuinely smile, he smirked often yes but rarely smiled. "So if you believe that is so hard to get then do you know what you want instead?"

The Nara nodded "I will become the best ninja I can be no matter how troublesome it gets so that I can protect the king."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow slightly in questioning. "The king, do you mean the Hokage?"

"No."

"The daimyo?"

"No" damn this kid was confusing.

"What other king is there?"

"I used to think it was the Hokage but my sensei taught me who the real king was. In this village it is the next generation, the ones who grow up to inherit Konoha and help it prosper, they are our king the ones who truly need protecting until their ready to protect the next king." Hiashi nodded now understanding.

"Also I think there is more than one king, for me my kings are my friends, my team-mates and the people who are precious to me. I have to become strong to protect them." At this point Hiashi was truly impressed with the young Nara, the boy was obviously a great ninja, he took responsibility seriously, valued teamwork, understood the importance of his role as a ninja.

And he wanted babies at some point, _which means grand kids to spoil, I mean new heirs to carry on the great Hyuuga line._ Yea, that was it, he thought pleasantly. He was seriously contemplating getting on one knee and outright asking the Nara to marry his daughter. Obviously something would have to be done about his earrings and the way he presented himself.

Then his gaze shifted to the Shougi board, **he was about to lose.**

Panicking Hiashi had to think of a question to throw the Nara off enough to prevent the next move from making its mark. Hiashi smirked as he got an idea, he had never outright asked this question before because the whole test was made to answer this question and to decide if the Nara was worthy of his family.

"So Nara do you care about my daughter?" As Hiashi had hoped Shikamaru averted his gaze from him and the Shougi board and also seemed to be turning a little crimson in the face.

Then he joined the fingertips of his hands together forming a small circle and closed his eyes. Curious as to what he was doing Hiashi remained quiet, watching as the Nara returned to normal colour and reopened his eyes. Hiashi waited for an answer.

All he heard however was the click as a Shougi piece was moved. "Checkmate." Hiashi's left eye began twitching and his mouth hung open slightly, he had lost, at Shougi, he never lost. He was so shocked he barely even heard the Nara speak again, "I think I should be leaving now, I've taken up a lot of your time."

Hiashi was still too dumbfounded to realise Shikamaru had risen form his mat and was heading to the door.

Shikamaru stopped at the door before turning back to look at Hiashi.

"To answer your question," Hiashi looked at the Nara slightly confused the shock of his defeat had caused him to forget his question. "I do care for Hinata, she's one of the most precious people to me. One I would gladly protect above myself."

Hinata was blushing vividly just outside the door, stunned at his words. She raised a hand to her chest in a vain attempt at slowing down it's fast beating.

Then he opened the door…

…and Hinata who had been crouched down with her ear against the wall and had been to caught up with her blushing to realise Shikamaru was leaving fell through the doorway with a small 'eep' and a blush beyond any shade that had ever been considered human on her face.

Shikamaru glance around quickly, there weren't any objects on the floor so she must not have dropped anything and the fact she fell when the door was opened meant she had been leaning against it, the only explanation Shikamaru could come up with was that she had been listening.

"Troublesome" was all Shikamaru could say as he quickly turned the same shade as Hinata. He offered her a hand to help her to her feet which she gratefully took, once on her feet she looked to the ground rather than at Shikamaru too embarrassed to look him in the eye at the moment.

She had obviously heard, Shikamaru decided and if he didn't confront this situation now it could cause problems with Shikamaru and Hinata's friendship but if he spoke of it now Hinata would likely faint, looking round the room he noticed a clock on the wall, there was still a decent amount of time left for the day and he hadn't had anything to eat yet which gave him an idea to broach the subject in a less direct, less embarrassing manner.

"Would you like to go get something to eat Hinata?" he asked an almost exact mimic of his normal bored tone apart from the hint of nervousness. It was obvious she now knew what he felt and hopefully her answer to this would convey how she felt.

Hinata looked over Shikamaru's shoulder toward her father who surprisingly was smiling broadly and was holding two thumbs up. Hinata's expression lit up and she looked back to Shikamaru.

"Yes Shikamaru-kun I would love to." Surprisingly the usually shy quiet girl linked her arm with Shikamaru's and started leading him out of the compound. It seemed that finally having someone pass the test and like her in return had granted her a great confidence boost.

Hiashi was still their smiling after they left, it seemed this would be quite an amusing union and Hiashi couldn't wait until the grandchildren came. Shikamaru was sorely mistaken if he thought he was only going to have two children. The Hyuuga complex had a lot of space that needed filling and Hiashi had a lot of money to help spoil, err, help the kids with.

--

Neji was seated in the Hokage's office, opposite him sat the Hokage, to her right Ino and to her left Temari.

"I'm sorry Neji but I'm afraid we are going to have to decline your request to join our group." the Hokage stated in a bored tone.

"Why?" Neji asked refusing to accept the rejection. He had dyed his hair for this, they had to accept him.

"We don't think you really understand our motives and methods well enough to be involved with them."

"All you do is hate Shikamaru and beat him up for being annoying."

"I'm afraid that's all wrong, we don't hate Shikamaru we merely feel he has certain flaws that we disapprove of and we give him an occasional warning blow to show him he's out of line."

"I can do that." Neji stated, the occasional swing at the Nara sounded good to Neji.

"I'm sorry but you still don't quite qualify, in case you haven't noticed all our group are Natural blondes. Now that this is settled you can leave."

Disgruntled at his dismissal Neji rose from his seat turning to the door, his newly blonde hair swaying behind him. "Natural blonde" he mumbled "there's no way your hair colour's still natural at your age."

Neji froze hearing a scratching noise behind him as well as the undeniable shifting of chairs. He didn't need to be a genius to know what they were preparing to do to him. He would not be one of those idiots who turned around in slow mo to confirm what was going on only to be pounced on because of their stupidity, no, Neji was not going to use that idiot manoeuvre.

He instead chose the even more idiotic route of running. Only succeeding in further infuriating the three Kunoichi and leading to the most one sided chase of the century.

An opponent who could affect wind and get him from above on a fan, an opponent who could manipulate random pedestrians into attacking him and slowing him down and the officially most powerful ninja in the village each with the power of fury at their disposal all against just one Jounin.

He never did stand a chance.

Especially after stopping to gape as his cousin walked past hand in hand with the Nara.

--

Finished, finally and without any underlines this time.

Thank you to anyone who reads this far and thanks again to people who review


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